Berlin authorities refused to pay a ransom demanded after a cyber attack, and stolen government data were then published online. The leaked set contains 1,439,893 files totaling 5.26 terabytes, turning a theft into a public release of material tied to state security.
Lars Winkelsdorf called the breach an "absolute catastrophe" and said on Bild that "Każdy szaleniec ma teraz instrukcję, jak w ciągu dwóch dni sparaliżować całą infrastrukturę kraju". He also said the leak could matter for state security and was more serious than all previous terrorist attacks combined.
Berlin and Rhysida
Rhysida said it stole about 5.7 terabytes of data from Berlin systems. The published files therefore account for most, but not all, of that claimed haul: 5.26 terabytes is about 92% of 5.7 terabytes.
The material includes documents on civil protection, lists of objects, properties, companies, and institutions considered especially important in a state of war, and material related to Operationsplan Deutschland. Some files were marked VS-NfD, and German media reported that the set also included emergency plans for the administration and information about special communication channels of the federal authorities in an extreme crisis.
Bundestagu and critical systems
The documents name combined heat and power plants, fuel depots, emergency power sources, and electricity substations among the listed objects. They also indicate that damage to some of those installations could affect energy and fuel supplies, wastewater disposal, and waste management.
German media reported that disruption to some facilities could also affect the Bundestagu, police, selected prisons, and hospitals. That widens the leak beyond ordinary administrative paperwork and into systems that support daily government and emergency operations.
What the files expose
The set also includes information about companies connected to the arms industry and material related to the Berlin criminal police office LKA. For a reader trying to judge the risk, the practical question is not just how much data appeared online, but whether the published documents give a usable map of where sensitive systems are and how they connect.
The answer to that question now sits inside the leak itself. Berlin did not pay the ransom, Rhysida published the data, and the exposed files give attackers a detailed inventory of civil protection and infrastructure targets that can be studied at scale.
